Foreign Tourists Seen Spending $12b in Indonesia in 2015

Jakarta. The Tourism Ministry is targeting a 13 percent increase in revenue from foreign tourists this year as Indonesia boosts facilities to accommodate and attract more travelers to the country.

Revenue from tourists should help the country battle with its current account, the broadest measure of trade that has been in deficit for the past 12 consecutive quarters.

The ministry forecasts 10 million foreign tourists spending $12.05 billion in Indonesia in 2015, up from $10.7 billion last year, when there were 9.3 million tourists spending, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said on Thursday.

Arief said that the ministry will install Wi-Fi connections in all of the countrya��s top tourist destinations and increase promotion, particularly through digital channels.

The ministry sees $500 million in investment in the tourism industry this year a�� an amount that was the same as last year a�� and there will be more hotels and resorts, Arief said.

Indonesia is targeting 20 million foreign tourist visits by 2019, Arief said. Still, that number would be less than than the annual number of foreigners who visit either Malaysia or Thailand today.